Sorry I have to chat and run....

~ I'm leaving for the weekend with Dyllan to visit ny Mom in Borrego. Hoping to get some good shots of the deserts blooming wildflowers!
I'm also bringing along my large flower press...

I've been busy selling some NEW and much anticipated jewerly on the sly that I've not had the time to show them HERE in my shop!

But they are there!
So enjoy!
and I'll catch up with you on Monday!

Daily Chuck

My friend Buffi, got me hooked on a blog by Heather Armstrong.

If you get offended easily, then don't visit her site, ...

...but if you like the blunt truth of life and and need a "real" good laugh once in a while...then go.

I love the "Daily Chuck"

and Heathers humor is just great.

Be sure to go Here to read about Heather.

It will explain everything.

Happy FAT Tuesday!

Today is Fat Tuesday and I hope you will all have great time!
A couple of Dyllan's friends are coming at 1:00pm.
While the kids play, the Mom's and I will be decorating wearable Mardi Gras masks!
For lunch I'll be serving homemade Jambalaya, and goodies.
And more in the crock pot will be served to family and neighbors tonight!
...the house is going to smell wonderful!
Dessert will be confetti mini cupcakes with home made bright purple, greens and yellows frosting and topped with colorful mini marshmallows!
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Below is a cake I've been wanting to share with you!
Dyllan attended a friends Birthday party last month and being pirate themed, the Mom made a pirate cake!
Instead of using marzipan for the outside, she used melted marshmellow!
I LOVE the detail, especially where she put the candles!

Have a festive day!

What a FUN day!

~ The Orange County Scrapbook Expo falls around my Birthday, making my Birthday celebration more enjoyable. Last year I volunteered 4 hours and recieved $30 which I used towards my day of fun. This year however, the first day of the expo fell on my Birthday, the next day being Valentines day, so we went on the last day Sunday.
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Some booths begged us to take photo's of their examples:
Here is one of my favorites!

Here I am with some of the girls from my Scrapbook Group!
Kimber-who was there all weekend helping out in the classrooms. For $5 she got a free for just helping out!, She also called me up before Sunday for show special 'updates'
Teresa- She's my scrappin', coffee stop, anytime best friend! Both she and her hubby are from NY, so hence the wireless mic in her ear. She's either on the phn or texting!
Pam- That day was Pam's Birthday and she came to the expo for the 1st time with her Boyfriend Jeff, who is a total sweetheart and was nice enough to take this photo with 5 different camera's!
Yes, that Me! I'm liking orange right now. It's fun and frisky, and my craft apron with the orange tutu on the bottom got ton's of compliments!
Kathy - Has a heart of gold. So nice and genuine. She and Teresa are doing the 365 LO project. What a task! She's a talented paper crafter and always amazes us with her creations!

~ Here's some more LO inspirations. I think it's a fun way to fill in space and those journal cards really add to the page!

~ Teresa and I got there when it first opened, so it was not too busy. Nice for shopping....

Loving the colors on these LO's!

I'm seeing this idea for a possible card or even altered-art...

~ At lunch, Kathy was done and headed home, and we were joined by group member Dawn and her friend, Susan. Dawn works at a local Michaels craft store, (enabeling us with store specials) and Susan has a blog called Red Bess Bonney.

All of us with the exception of Pam, have know each other since our children were still crawling! We met through a Mom's group and have been close friends since! Having the Scrapbook group

keeps us connected as friends and occasional kids playdates even though our kiddo's are attending different schools.

Here are some of my yummy purchases....

Overlays by Heidi Swapp

Vintage inspired stickers, a Tim Holtz mask, chipboard album and Cosmo Cricket stamp set!

I got this paper pack kit for $5!

I thought it would be perfect for my (condensed) version of the 365 project.

Read it and weep....lol!

I got each of these Heidi Swapp masks for $1 each!

and they work great! I've already used the alphabets and polka dots!

The Storytellers club always has a free LO coupon.

I recieved the Halloween one for free, and splurged a whopping $4 on the cute Owl kit!

~ For the girls, I made them each a new Nest Pendant creation, and Dawn gave me the sparkely heart/crown treasure.

The tape runner was free just for watching a demo at the Pioneer booth, They have this fantastic new product that replaces those annoying screw post in post bound albums. Check it out here! I'm going to order some soon!

I also picked up some crackle paints and distress stickles by Tim Holtz, and some hard to make shades of Glimmer Mist!

I found this Baby Book kit at the Rusty Pickle booth for $10!

I plan make a book for my Sisters new baby!

Last but not least, I used Birthday Money, to score this Sizzix Big Shot for $71 plus tax!

Don't get me wrong...I Love my cricut, I do, but it can't do what the big shot can do...like cutting through felt, material, leather, chipboard, and other materials. I also can't wait to use it for embossing onto chipboard! The nice thing is, that it is compatible with most any die or emboss plate!

And I LOVE the color!

~ Next up, what I did on my Birthday...and who's the fairest maden of them all!

Why Birds Sing

~ For my Birthday my Mom gave me Why Birds Sing, by David Rothenburg.

A journey into the mystery of a songbird.

It all started in 2000 when he began to play live music with wild birds.

Here's an amazing story that I can't wait to share with you all when my reading journey ends.

This is David's site along with a album of his "Jam" with the Birds.

I look forward getting that CD soon!

Can you imagine listening to the birds sing with a musician while you create?

The hummingbird bag is also beautiful and the sea shell bracelet another stunning piece. I especially love the one solar light that I will place in my patio's Faerie Garden to help my little friends find their way!

Thanks Mom!

10,000 Dreams

For my Birthday, I recieved this book and relaxing lotion from my Sister in law Genny. Such a fun read!

Brian and Dyllan gave me the 2nd DVD of the Fantastic 4, (a really fun flick!) and Dyllan went on a $5 shopping spree at Michaels and bought me 5 fun craft items!

I love when he does stuff like this because I know he's really putting thought into what I'd like!

Laura, gave me a subscription to Hallmark Magazine, Breakfast at Tiffany's DVD, and two sparkely crown ornaments!

~ Melodi gave me the beautiful gold bracelet and my friend Kimber enabled me to be

up to date with technology with my very own mp3 player. I was the only one at the Scrapbook retreat last winter trying to listen to my casette walkman. Not anymore!

Pam, gave me a cute Valentine kit... Thanks Pam!

Teresa gave me some spending money for the Scrapbook expo and some flowering teas. Which comes in an amazing container to which she knew I would love. She was right!

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That's all for now...I'll have more to share late tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great Sunday!

~Michelle

What a Fantastic Find!

Autumn of Autumn Whispers, made this stamp for me!

Now I can stamp anywhere I want, even on ribbon!

Please visit her blog where she posts images of all her custom orders.

What a find!

Valentine ATC''s and Birthday Party Winners!

~ What a fun party it has been! Thanks to all of you for your well wishes and dedication to "play"! I hope you had fun!
The ATC's you see here are from a recent swap I did through my Fiskateer group. Mine is the owl with the heart eyes...

~ Now on to the winners of my blog/Birthday party!
The Cupcakes go to Karee Sue!
The Red Frame to Fiskateer # 5563, Suzi!
The Earring Holder goes to Rosemary!

The beaded pen and matching note pad goes to Fiskateer #2262, Patti B.!

As promised, if I were to reach 100 post, I'd throw in the red bird, and that goes to...

Fiskateer #4499, "L"!

~ Because I did not reach 200 comments, I was unable to throw in the nest jewelry and Princess kit. I'll save those for another blog giveaway!

~ I selected 5 people to receive "Mystery" gifts

Jenn, Fiskateer #5200 (Lesa), Fiskateer #3624 (Michelle), Joy Bear, Cottage way of Life

Thanks again!

I have oodles of pics to share from my real Birthday festivities, and I'll post those in a couple of days.

~~~Also for those of you who may have been wondering...I'll be posting info for my yearly Charm Swap in the middle of March. Hope you can join the fun!

The Birthday Party is almost over!

~ If I reach 100 comments by the end of today, I'll thrown in the little red birdy with crown. Please comment HERE for a chance to win! Thanks!

A little bit of Romance...

I've added a few new things in my shop...

Please go take a look and let me know what you think!

***

The party (below) is still going on strong...but ends Feb 19th.

So be sure to tell your friends and comment often!

Thank You

;)

It's my Birthday!

~ Thank You all for coming to my 400th post/ Birthday Blog party!

I hope you have fun!

The party starts today and ends on Feb. 19th.

Everyone that leaves a comment has a chance to win a fantastic party favor!

You can leave as many comments as you like and I encourage you to tell your friends as the more comments I receive...the more giveaways are added to the bunch!

~To start the party off right..how about a cupcake?

Or two?

At 25 comments, I'll add...

a romantic frame...

At 50 comments I'll add...

this hand crafted Earring holder...

At 100 comments,

I'll add this notepad and stunning beaded pen...

At 150 comments...

I'll add the LOVE bird,

complete with a glittery nest and sparkly crown....

If I reach 200 comments ....

I'll add this stunning new Birds Nest ring with small fresh water pearls.

~Also included but not pictured...are two birds nest hair clips.

Lastly...If you've been so nice to tell your friends, and they told their friends

and you came back often to see me...

the last gift I'll throw in will be

a "Princess in a box kit"

It will contain :

1 handcrafted wire Tiara

similar to the one I wore here,

1 glittery wand to match the Tiara

1 packet of my custom glitter

1 of my Birds Nest Charms

to match your Tiara as well.

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On the end date of the party,

No matter how many comments I receive,

I'll be giving away 4

of these mini treat bags filled with "

Mystery" Party goodies!

(Please make sure I have a valid way of contacting you in the case that you win!)

International welcome!

~ My Birthday is Friday, Feb 13th...I'll be sure to come back and let you know how it goes!

You are Invited!

~ Yes , I'm having a party and you are invited!

It's my 400th blog post/ Birthday Party!

Date: Thursday, February 12th

Time: 7 days long

Where: Here! (http://faeriedustdreams-michelle.blogspot.com/)

There will be cake, ice cream and goodies galore!

I'll be giving away handcrafted crowns, tiara's , wire wrapped jewerly,

and other fantastic treasures.

See you soon!

~Michelle

Calendar Girl ATC's

~ Recently I participated in a "clever " ATC swap through my fellow Fiskateers.

The theme was Calendars.

We each took a month, I chose February.

On the backs we added a mini calendar and made it flip up showing our contact info underneath.

* Of course, my ATC's were anything but boring!

~ Above is what I sent in...

~ Below is what I recieved...

~Front and back...

I wanted to show off one of the cards someone made beacuse I liked how they took a simple piece of red twine and knotted it through the card to look like a bikini!

~ This is ATC book from all my swaps last year.

It's quite full. It's where I go when I need inspiration for a card, tag or LO.
~ Here is one of the Halloween swaps, you can see why I love to look at them , it's like having my own "idea book"!

~ When ever I participate in a swap, I usually make a extra for me in the case I don't get one back. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.

~ This one is mine.

Looks much better in person!